Arbitration Hits Hard, Questionable Contracts Offered
Ray D. Enzé,
NLN baseball blogger
December 3, 2024:
Aurora, Colorado - Arbitration is one of those archaic processes that leaves a team buzzing on a sugar high or lying in insulin-shock. Teams are left making players feel unloved, players leave teams feeling the 'union greed' and some find the back-end of the unemployment line. For Aurora, they felt the first two and shockingly none of the last.
This years arby list was a reasonably lengthy one, with 8 players eligible this season - 4 pitchers and 4 position players; 4 of who were key members of the team: '
Massacre',
Jesus Negrete,
Felix Pena and
John Gray.
We can start with the two relievers who signed the team offers before their hearing, leaving the Borealis Brass heaving a sigh of relief. Gray, who had an outstanding season, was 8-1 with a 2.59 ERA with 5 Saves and 22 Holds - tied for 2nd best in the SL. Over the past three seasons of being a main cog in the 'pen, Gray has 79 Holds, including a 2022 best of 28. Over 87 IP he struck out 127 and walked just 26. Fortunately for the Borealis, the to-be-28-year old who was a 4th round pick in 2015 chose to sign the $2M offer and eschew arbitration.
For Felix Pena, the circumstances were different. The 25-year old righty, acquired from
San Antonio back in 2018 for SP
Frankie Chavez (who finally retired this year after being out of the game for three seasons) - missed more than half the season after suffering an UCL rupture that he is still recovering from - the team hopes he'll be ready to go come spring training. During his two month-and-a-half stint,, Felix appeared in 19 games with a 1.82 ERA, with 42 K in 34.2 IP. Like Gray, Pena was an vital cog in Aurora's late inning bullpen rotation. His loss was a crucial one. He agreed to a $2.4M contract in avoiding arbitration - for Aurora, with the unknown of his status for 2025, it's a great deal!
While we are on the subject of pitchers, let's look at the second largest award of the day - that being the $10.625M deal awarded to 'Massacre', over the team's $9M offer. Jimenez was the 11th player selected in 2015 - out of Moody HS, and and it took him four-full seasons in the minors before he got his call to the Front Range. Arturo has spent most of his time in the rotation, but has had periods where he's been demoted to the 'pen when bouts of wildness has gotten the better of him. He did begin 2024 in the 'pen, but when it was apparent '
Sawmill's skills had eroded too much, he was placed back into the fold and had an outstanding year - 17-10, 2.89 ERA and in just shy of 200 IP (199) he struck out 205 batters - a career best (good for 4th in the SL), and walked just 60 - by far his best career number if you look at in terms of BB/9 (2.7). Arturo will be a free agent after 2025 and his 'strained' relationship with management over bouncing back and forth in the 'pen, and his 'not seeing eye-to-eye with the manager leaves one to wonder if this will be his last season in Aurora.
To finish the pitcher portion of this discussion,
'Terror' Diaz, Aurora's first selection out of Tempe (now
Long Beach in the
WIL) in the Contraction Draft, was awarded a $2M deal from the Arbiter, beating the $1.2M the team had been seeking. Diaz split time between the rotation and the 'pen, making 18 starts and 12 relief appearances. He arguably pitched better as a starter, but overall he was 12-5, with a 3.86 ERA. Diaz' status is a tad uncertain, as the rotation of
Provost,
Smith, Jimenez,
Romano and (possibly)
Perkins seems set - barring any additions via trade or free agency.
The largest award - and believed to be perhaps the largest in team history, was the $15,912,500 that Jesus Negrete will be making this coming season. The team had offered $11.65M. Negrete, who came to Aurora in trade with
Reno for
John Lawson (who looks like he's about to break through for the Zephyrs) and a 1st round pick, has been an enigma for Aurora. So potential. Such talent. And yet, injury cost him the bulk of 2023 - and the playoffs, and the first part of 2024. This year he hit .258 with 14 HR and 56 RBI - certainly not the numbers Aurora was looking for when they brought him aboard. In awarding Jesus the near-$16M deal, Boy Wonder GM Will Topham was overheard asking - 'What was he thinking? Was he simply looking at his ratings on EA Sports PEBA 2024?'
Also beating the team from the catching position - albeit for much less money, was back-up
Rusty Butler who was awarded $2.73M for his career best season. The team had offered $1.2M. His .275 average was his best since his first season at AAA in 2017. The addition $1.5M is a small hit to the team that may be paying Butler to play elsewhere - and for that matter, Negrete may as well, as the
Two-Headed Monster v2.0 down at AAA
Thornton is for all intensive purposes ready to give the Big Leagues a shot. Which begs the question, 'Why was Butler even offered a contract?'
Also winning at the arby table, and also leading to the question regarding an offer at all,
Juan Toro - one of the longest tenured members of the organization - he was a 5th round pick in the 2011 draft - he and the '
Stork' are the only remaining members of that draft class, and he's the nephew of long-time Aurora manager of the same name. Toro has made himself useful by playing just enough defense at multiple spots while providing just enough punch from the plate. His .326 in 2021 was so solid that
'Gypsy' John Foster was benched during Aurora's drive to the playoffs. It will certainly be interesting to see exactly what happens with Toro come this spring. Aurora's scouts continue to view him favorably.
Lastly - and Aurora's lone 'win' in the process was the $765K awarded to
Gabe McIntyre, who was seeking $1.275M. McIntyre, the 11th selection in the 2018 draft had a very disappointing 2024 with a .226 average - after hitting .287 and .273 the previous two years; both respectable averages, but kind of hollow when you dig deeper into the numbers. Gabe was to be the 2B, with
Pablo Medrano at 1B, but he performed so poorly that Aurora went out and signed free agent
Harley Schneider - who hit .308 with 3 HR and 31 RBI in just 31 games - all greater than what McIntyre posted in his 86 games! The powers that be continue to be impressed by McIntyre's work on the field - but this year he needs to translate that potential to something more tangible not he diamond.